You decide to take a trip to China. While there you start to feel ill. Explain what it would be like to visit a Traditional Chinese Doctor. How would they diagnose you? What sort of treatments would they provide? How would it be different than going to an American Urgent Care clinic? Would the Traditional Chinese Therapies help? Locate and discuss any research that supports/does not support these therapies.
Traditional Chinese Medicine relies on yin and yang which are the two forces of balance. If someone’s yin and yang are thrown out of balance then their health can be negatively influenced (Alavian, 2021). If I took a trip to China and was starting to feel ill, I would go to see a TCD. This would differ from an American Urgent Care clinic through treatment and prescription. A TCD would evaluate the color of my tongue and the sound of my voice. A TCD would also check my pulse, and try to figure out what my imbalance is within my body and spirit (Alavian, 2021). An American doctor usually asks questions such as “when did this start?” or “is your pain on a scale of 1-10?”. In America we also rely on more modern medicine to help us feel better such as “Dayquil” or “Advil”. A TCD would most likely prescribe a special list of herbs mixed just for my personal imbalances. A TCD would want my hot and cold to be balanced and the herbs can help with that to make me feel better. I thought this was interesting because I already drink tea when I start to feel sick. This natural way makes sense to help treat an illness such as a cold. Herbal tea ingredients have been known to ease respiratory infection symptoms (Watson, 2019). This module is similar to the previous module because in China they focus on balance and imbalances. They also focus on hot and cold aspects within the body, the same as Ayurvedic medicine.
